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Freiburg/Ismaning, Germany, October 08, 2025
ionysis and Phlair today announced their collaboration on the development and validation of PFAS-free catalyst-coated membranes for Direct Air Capture systems.
The collaboration includes the validation and optimization of ionysis’ new PFAS-free CCM designs towards the challenging DAC reactor environment requirements. This covers electrochemical assessment of performance, conductivity and longevity of PFAS-free catalyst-coated membranes in the DAC electrolyte environment in a hydrolyzer stack used in Phair's systems.
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“For us, this collaboration is an important strategic next step beyond hydrogen applications: We are excited to validate our PFAS-free CCM solutions for the first time in the emerging direct air capture sector. With Phlair, we are happy to partner directly with one of the most relevant companies and skilled teams in the sector.” said Dr. Matthias Breitwieser, CTO & Co-founder of ionysis. “This is a win-win situation for both companies, and also a strong signal for the innovation power of the deeptech start-up landscape in southern Germany” added Lisa Langer, CFO of ionysis.
Dr. Matthias Breitwieser, CTO & Co-founder of ionysis
"With Phlair, we are happy to partner directly with one of the most relevant companies and skilled teams in the sector."
“Ionysis is pioneering fluorine-free, catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) that combine sustainability with high performance, setting new benchmarks for fuel cells and electrolysers. Phlair is profiting from their incredible expertise in electrochemical systems and is excited to integrate this innovation into its next-generation hydrolyzer,” said Dr. Steffen Garbe, CSO and Co-founder of Phlair.
About ionysis
ionysis GmbH develops highly efficient, emission-free and sustainable core components for fuel cells and electrolyzers. This includes the so-called "membrane electrode assemblies" with a significantly reduced content of perfluorinated substances. The aim is to further develop novel, more performant and environmentally friendly membrane electrode assemblies and to demonstrate their technical feasibility on a large scale.
ionysis began operations in September 2022, and by Q4 2025, it has grown to a team of 26 people. The foundation for this spin-off from Hahn-Schickard and the University of Freiburg was established through several publicly funded research projects. The company secured seed financing by two strategic partners. The ISO 9001 certification was issued by DEKRA.
About Phlair
Phlair is revolutionizing carbon removal. With its unique hydrolyzer-based Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, Phlair is enabling CO2 capture from ambient air: scalable and at low cost. Phlair’s technology runs purely on solar electricity and employs a pH-swing mechanism for efficient CO₂ capture and release. The captured CO2 is permanently stored or used for CO2-negative chemicals. The Munich-based company serves leading customers in carbon removal, including Google, McKinsey, JPMorganChase, Shopify, Stripe, H&M, and Deep Sky.
In 2024, Phlair closed an oversubscribed €12M+ Seed round from Extantia Capital, Planet A and Verve Ventures and was awarded a €2.5M Grant from the European Union. This year, Phlair announced a $30M offtake agreement with leading customers in Carbon Removal such as Salesforce, JPMorganChase, Google, and McKinsey.